NGO"A bit of happiness" \ Asociatia"Un strop de fericire"

Asociatia "Un strop de fericire" is a nonprofit organization registered in March 2012, in Ploiesti, Romania, with the purpose of promoting volunteering as a means of change in the community. Our motto is “Be the change you want to see in the world”.

The primary objectives of the organization are to encourage youth development, to promote education through non-formal and informal methods of learning, to support social inclusion of children and youth with fewer opportunities and to promote mass sport in the local community.

The organization develops programs that:
• Empower youth through involvement in local and international projects and support for their initiatives
• Offer resources for personal development in a Youth Hub which gathers a large community of youngsters
• Support the education of young people organizing workshops, training, mentoring or coaching sessions
• Encourage mass sport in the community by organizing large-scale sport events
• Help disadvantaged children and young people in general, contributing to the improvement of their education and living conditions in community centers.

The team of Asociatia "Un strop de fericire" consists of 3 founding members, each of them being responsible for different aspects of the activities of the organization, assisted by other regular collaborators and a community of ~200 active volunteers. Thousands of young people have been part of our activities throughout the years, and currently we have more than 5000 followers on our social media channels.

Our projects are grouped in 3 main areas: education, social inclusion and sport.

https://www.facebook.com/asoc.unstropdefericire/
www.facebook.com/cupametigla/
www.facebook.com/youthhubbasket/
www.facebook.com/Saptamana-Globala-a-Antreprenoriatului-Youth-Hub-AUSF-
www.youtube.com/channel/UC3oBl6LngM03M9nELcB-WEg
www.facebook.com/proiectMainiIndemnatice/
www.facebook.com/Run-for-Future
istagram: @unstropdefericire
Linkedin: @asociatiaunstropdefercire

Within our organization we have developed personal development workshops and trainings, coaching and mentoring activities. In 2015 we have created a Youth Hub which provides support and resources for youth through non-formal educational tools in order to encourage their involvement in Erasmus+ projects and their integration in the European frame. One important project in Youth Hub is “The annual contest of entrepreneurship ideas” –the Global Entrepreneurship Week gathered around 500 youngsters interested in business and entrepreneurial activities. Another important achievement is the number of projects initiated and run by youngsters under AUSF mentoring.

We have been actively participating in the Erasmus + programme and we have sent young people to a number of youth exchanges, study visits and training courses in different European countries. We have been working with partners from Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Turkey, Croatia, Portugal, Denmark on more than 25 projects. Having said this, we are positive that we have a vast experience and capacity to actively be part of and organize international and Erasmus+ youth exchanges mobilities. We have been actively involved with our partners in all stages of a youth exchange: planning, preparation of project applications, selection of participants, setting up responsibilities of project partners, preparation of the venue, logistics, communication between all partners involved, arranging project schedules, as well as promotion and dissemination of projects. Recently we have received EVS accreditation as coordinating/sending/hosting organisation and we will start our collaboration with partners in EVS projects. Additionally, in March 2018 we have started a 2.5 year strategic partnership (PiFbase International) with Sweden and Finland aimed at developing the PiFbase method (Pay it Forward – be a social entrepreneur), a coaching method for youngsters personal development, at the international level.

A great deal of our members are active in sport clubs and have taken part in organizing local sport initiatives promoting a healthy lifestyle and encouraging social engagement. One such activity was the annual cross “Run for Future” – the forth edition in 2018 aligned at start more than 1000 youngsters and people from the local community. The 2018 (5th) edition of "Metigla Cup of Basketball" brought together 600 basketball players from local high schools, the project being finalist in 2016 in the National Volunteers Gala.

In terms of social activities, we work with target groups such as youngsters with fewer opportunities in social centers.
We offer around 1000 hours every month to tis type of projects in local community.
We developed multiple projects to support their social integration, to increase their school performance and to encourage their vocational development. Throughout the year our volunteers work in our main project “A New Opportunity”, the project being also finalist in 2016 in National Volunteers Gala.

Key people

Most of our core team of volunteers have years-long experience in the nongovernmental sector and in the field of intercultural dialogue, youth initiatives and involving people from different background in one mission. The team also includes youngsters with an interest in the strategic development of the organisation. We have all types of expertise from qualified people, volunteers in our NGO, coming from multinational or local business companies, from management positions, as well as from NGO’s founders:

- training;
- coaching;
- mentoring;
- human resources development;
- non-formal education methods;
- PR and communication;
- event management;
- teaching;
- research.

Cristina Goroneanu is the founder of the organization and of the "Youth Hub", certified trainer and coach, expert in project management and business management, with practice in Erasmus projects.
Andra Secreteanu is a former director of a multinational and profit oriented organization, expert in management issues.
Carmen Ionita has a Psychology background with a special interest in Educational Psychology. She is currently Erasmus+ project coordinator being responsible for the international activities of the organisation. She is closely involved with the KA2 strategic partnership “PiFbase International” being one of the project managers and taking the role of trainer in the international meetings. As of 2018 she is one of the Shokkin Group International board member and her achievements includes contributing to getting a Council of Europe & European Youth Foundation gratn for a 1-year work plan between 7 SGI members from: Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Poland and Romania.
Laura Mistodinis has a teaching and human resources background and is currently one of the coaches in PiFbase International, actively working with youngsters’ personal and professional development through coaching. She is also part of the international collaboration, being involved in developing the PiFbase method.
Cosmina Dumitru has a teaching background and is experienced in working with youngsters from underrepresented backgrounds. She is currently one of our coaches, same as Laura, actively working with the PiFbase method at local level for youngsters’ personal and professional development, as well as the international level, being part of the method development process.
Andrei Voicu is our specialist in PR and acts as a consultant for the organisation PR strategy.
Stefan Procopie is a graphic designer who assists the organisation in producing visual materials for project promotion and dissemination.
Alexandra Stoicescu and Ingrid Bardelli are our current volunteer coordinators in the Youth Hub being responsible for local project coordination alongside a small team of ambassadors.

Asociatia Un Strop de Fericire is a member of the Shokkin Group International network. This means that we follow the codes of conduct, quality and ethical standards developed and agreed by the international board of the network. The standards ensure quality preparation, implementation and evaluation of activities connected to international projects. The standards used in the network can be found here: https://shokkin.org/about/